5 Ways to Cultivate Better Work Relationships

Are you the latest addition to the company? Did you get into an argument with your boss or colleague? Are you looking to strengthen your team? If you’re looking for solutions to these challenges, or if you’re just looking to prove you’re a team player, here are five ways to cultivate better relationships with your peers and superiors at work.

Suggest taking regular power lunches

Take the initiative to hold regular power lunches to discuss how your team’s or company’s untapped potential could be utilized. Not only show your boss that you’re willing to go the extra mile, but it would also show your colleagues that you are a team player whose best interests are not just his/hers, but for everyone in the office. If you’re interested in holding your next power lunch at an office for rent, check out thecommondesk.com. They serve delicious beverages and welcome patrons to bring food from nearby establishments.

Propose monthly professional roasts

Similar to the tradition of roasting, harsh but constructive criticism is required to maintain checks and balances inside the office. Have everyone in your team or office agree to meet at least once a month to discuss everyone’s weaknesses and shortcomings as a way to find solutions that may help everyone avoid them from hindering the progress of the company. Just make sure to keep things clean and professional throughout the roast.

Plan your own small company outing

As a way to even things out after the roasts, get your colleagues to join you for a trip out of town so everyone can get away from the hectic life in the city and reconnect with themselves and with the world. A little quarterly R&R with your peers and bosses will boost both morale and confidence in everyone in your office. It’s also an opportune moment to foster strong ties among everyone at work and to open up the possibility of building relationships — both friendly and otherwise — outside the office setting.

Invite your colleagues to dinner

Gather your closest work friends for a nice, hearty meal every so often, so that they get the opportunity to get to know you more and vice versa. Private and intimate engagements would allow you and your work friends to open up more comfortably about your lives outside the office. This allows everyone to see more clearly the strengths and weaknesses of everyone in the office and to suggest ways of using these as an advantage in the office. You can either hold these dinners at your place, or spots like this virtual office, which offer really good food, drinks, and ambience.

Make it a point to join spontaneous post-shift hangout sessions.

If Karen from Finance offers to treat everyone at work to drinks at the close of the work week, don’t hesitate to tag along. This shows your colleagues that you enjoy their company and that you’d be willing to spend more time with them outside the office setting. Why bother spending your Friday night alone when you can do so with really great company you’ve now come to love and respect more?